Museum honors stylish superheroes

Samantha Critchell, Associated Press

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, May 7, 2008

A cadre of superheroes has invaded one of Gotham's top cultural institutions, bringing swaths of bright color, pop graphics and an everyman theme to the hallowed halls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Have no fear, though. Their mission is friendly.

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and hero-of-the-hour Iron Man have been employed by the Costume Institute to illustrate the parallel worlds occupied by fantastical creatures with super powers and creative fashion designers who dress mere mortals - or at least the stars including George Clooney and Julia Roberts, who visited the exhibition Monday night.

"Superheroes are about issues of the body, identity and transformation, about acting your fantasies and transforming yourself into anyone or anything you want to be," said Costume Institute curator Andrew Bolton. "Those are all the things at the heart of fashion."

"Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy" begins with an examination of Superman, the first modern superhero when he appeared in 1938.

Thanks to an old smoke-and-mirrors trick used by Victorian-era magicians, Superman is presented to museumgoers as both Clark Kent (in a 1950s Brooks Brothers suit) and the Man of Steel in the 1978 film costume worn by Christopher Reeve.

Then there are the antiheroes of the 1970s and '80s, such as the Punisher and Ghost Rider. Bolton points to them as successful metaphors for the conflicted and flawed characters prevalent in the dark side of the contemporary world.

If Superman is the ultimate graphic body, with a physique inspired by circus strongmen, a costume that came from acrobats and an "S" emblem that has become a positive icon and a textbook lesson in branding, the Punisher represents the postmodern body - flaming skulls and all.

Anyone looking for sexy has to go no farther than the Catwoman section of the exhibition. In addition to Michelle Pfeiffer's remarkably slim black catsuit from 1992's "Batman Returns," there are real-world examples of dominatrix-style outfits by Mugler and Dolce & Gabbana.

One of the most stunning couture pieces in the exhibition belongs with mutant creatures such as the X-Men: A rainbow-colored Mugler gown that morphs from a birdlike top to an amphibian's corset and then mermaid hem.

But Superman and Spider-Man have had the strongest influence on mainstream style. In the vignettes dedicated to each, there are not only the costumes that made these characters famous in film, there are clothes that mimic their spirit. For Superman, there is Moschino's M-logo gown with complementary red cape, while there are several spider-web dress silhouettes by Mugler, Galliano, Jean Paul Gaultier, Julien Macdonald and Giorgio Armani.